Fitzsimmons says that Harvard will allocate nearly $85 million for undergraduate financial aid next year. This record-high level marks a 56 percent increase over the past six years, according to the admissions office.

As full tuition for the 2005-2006 academic year rises to $41,675—the highest ever—the average student aid package will approach $30,000.

“The underlying message is that this place is open to everybody,” Fitzsimmons said in April.

In a recent interview, Summers expressed his contentment with the effects of HFAI on this year’s admissions process.

“The financial aid initiative, on the strength of the applicant pool and the people we were able to accept, has been a great success,” he says.

For all the recent advances, Harvard’s undergraduate body remains wealthy on the whole. According to Fitzsimmons, more than 80 percent of the College’s students come from the top half of the national income distribution, and among students receiving financial aid, the average household income is well over $80,000.

Although the Class of 2009 exhibits greater socioeconomic diversity than any other class in Harvard’s history, ethnic diversity changed only slightly from recent years, according to figures from the admissions office.

African-American students comprise 9.2 percent of the incoming freshman class, a slight increase from 8.9 percent in the class of 2008. Asian Americans make up 18.7 percent of the class of 2009, down from 19.9 percent. Latino students constitute 7.4 percent of the incoming class, falling from last year’s figure of 8.8 percent. Native Americans hold 0.9 percent of the spots, slightly down from 1.1 percent last year.

COVERING EVERY BASE

The controversy surrounding Summers’ January remarks about women in science appears to have had little effect on the College’s admissions numbers this year.

The yield for female students interested in the sciences is higher than last year’s figure. Overall, more women who were offered admission to Harvard will arrive in Cambridge in the fall than men who were accepted—specifically, 79.3 percent of women and 77.8 percent of men.

During the spring, the admissions office made concerted efforts to address any possible fallout from the Summers controversy—which made headlines across the nation.

In mid-April, the office enlisted more than two dozen female math and science concentrators to make phone calls to all accepted female students who had expressed a strong interest in science on their applications.

“We...want to make sure we cover every possible base,” Fitzsimmons said in April, noting that the office had received “almost no questions” about the issue.

Throughout the spring, Fitzsimmons told The Crimson that he did not expect Summers’ comments to have an effect on the College’s yield.